1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to microscope connecting units and microscope systems.
This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-245280, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
In a type of conventionally known microscope device, a camera or the like is attached to an eyepiece, making it possible to capture enlarged images of a sample as well as to visually observe the sample via an eyepiece lens (e.g., see the Publication of Japanese Patent No. 3069911 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2004-318181). In the microscope device according to the Publication of Japanese Patent No. 3069911, a light path for images is integrated with a microscope. With a simple optical system, the device as a whole is made compact, and a stage on which a sample is placed is provided at a low position, serving to improve working efficiency from an ergonomic perspective. On the other hand, the microscope device according to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2004-318181 includes a prism that branches light transmitted through an objective lens into an observation light path and an image-capturing light path, and it is possible to perform observation and image capturing simultaneously by using two ports for the observation light path and image-capturing light path branched via the prism.
However, with the microscope device according to the Publication of Japanese Patent No. 3069911, it is not possible to use three or more devices simultaneously, such as an observation device, a stimulating device, and an image capturing device for capturing an image showing the response of a sample while observing and stimulating the sample.
On the other hand, with the microscope device according to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2004-318181, the focal length of an image forming lens is extended, and branching means is added between the image forming lens and a point where a primary image is formed, making it possible to use three light paths simultaneously. However, when the focal distance of the image forming lens is extended, the focal distances of a relay lens system of the visual-observation light path and a TV camera adapter (picture lens) of the image-capturing light path become relatively large, resulting in an increase in size of the device. Furthermore, interoperability with peripheral devices is lost: for example, the magnification factor of the objective lens changes. Furthermore, when the distance between the objective lens and the image forming lens is extended and branching means is added, the lens diameter inevitably becomes larger. This results in disadvantages such as an increase in size of the device as a whole, a higher position of the stage, or reduced working efficiency.